When “beautiful” things have hidden dangers

Do you ever find yourself partaking in something which seems to pose no danger?

There are many things in life that appear beautiful on the outside. But when you really dig beneath the surface, great dangers exist.

Take last Monday’s solar eclipse, for example. The moon covered the sun. The sky darkened. And millions of people scurried to see it with their own eyes—protected, of course.

The media made sure to let us in on that secret. If you were among those who stared at the sun, your eyes should’ve been veiled with ISO 12312-2 glasses. By now, you’re probably sick of hearing that. But thank God they shared the information. Because sometimes beautiful things have hidden dangers.

“You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’ –but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’ –but not everything is beneficial.” (1 Corinthians 10:23 NLT).

Modern culture is highly polluted with seemingly beautiful things. I bet you hear statements like the following:

“Drugs aren’t bad for you. They make you feel good.”

“There’s nothing wrong with gossip. It’s the simple truth.”

“Why should I wait until marriage to have sex? God made me this way.”

“What’s wrong with telling a small fib once in a while? Sometimes, it’s necessary.”

My goal isn’t to bash people who find themselves living one of those five statements. Instead, I hope to present God’s word in a way that encourages people to see things beyond face value.

You may have looked at the sun through the lens of special glasses. In the same way, you must look at the world through the lens of God’s word. Or else, you’ll go blind.

Better yet, we’re all blind from the start. We’re born into an imperfect world, making us sinners the moment we exit the womb. I’m reminded of the old hymn, “I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.”

Jesus was tempted to see things through the world’s eyes. Just like you and me.

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.’

But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ (Matthew 4:1-4 NLT).

Many (but not all) of the temptations we face concern actions that aren’t sinful in and of themselves. For instance, there’s nothing wrong with turning stones to bread. But Jesus was fasting. There’s nothing wrong with certain drugs when they’re being used for medical purposes. But millions abuse drugs. There’s nothing wrong with sex in marriage. But STDs run rampant. Sometimes Satan desires us to do “good” things at the “wrong” time. And’s that’s when “good” things become dangerous.

Solomon writes, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT).

By the way, the best time to admire the sun is while it sets. That’s when it’s truly beautiful to admire—unless, of course, you have ISO 12312-2 glasses. (Sorry, I had to.)

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT).

Don’t just focus on how beautiful something is. Be concerned with when it’s truly beautiful. After all, cutting corners result in beautiful things having hidden dangers.